Corporate America is doing a delicate dance these days between managing spending, orders and hiring while thinking the coming quarters will deliver growth that’s stronger than the roughly 2% we’ve been seeing.
IndustryWeek’s latest Tales From The Transcript, an in-depth study of forward-looking statements from 50 companies’ quarterly earnings calls, repeatedly surfaced a posture of “Careful now but prepared to turn up the wick soon.” Very often, the message from executive teams of many industrial stripes was simple: “This is a tricky environment but we have a solid handle on what we need to do.” Executives and advisors active in the mergers-and-acquisitions space are describing a similar environment and upbeat outlook.
We’ve picked up on that optimism in plenty of other places, too. Most recently, the quarterly Middle Market Business Index from accounting and consulting firm RSM showed that 57% of survey respondents expect the economy to improve in the fourth quarter and into early 2025. “Only” 38% told RSM researchers they thought the economy was improving this quarter.
